Smoking among a national sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health service staff

Objective: To examine smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff of Aboriginal community‐controlled health services (ACCHSs). Design, setting and participants: The Talking About The Smokes (TATS) project surveyed 374 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff at a national sample of 31 ACCHSs, from April 2012 to October 2013. We made comparisons with adult participants in the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) and with 1643 smokers in a community sample of 2522 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also surveyed in the TATS project. Main outcome measures: Smoking status, smoking behaviour at work, quitting behaviour, attitudes and beliefs about smoking and quitting. Results: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ACCHS staff had a lower smoking prevalence than among all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults surveyed in the NATSISS (38% v 49.8%), but this difference was smaller when compared with only employed adults (38% v 44.8%). Staff smokers had higher odds than smokers in their communities of ever trying to quit (odds ratio [OR], 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1–3.7), of having often noticed anti‐smoking advertising (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.4–5.6), and of having used stop‐smoking medications (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.6–5.7), often with the support of their ACCHS. There was a significant association (P